1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for producing components by extrusion.
2. Description of the Related Art
Extrusion processes are known for producing fiber-reinforced components and often are referred to as pultrusion processes. The prior art process for extruding a fiber-reinforced components is shown schematically in FIG. 1. With reference to FIG. 1 the prior art process includes a first step 10 in which fibers 12, such as glass or carbon fibers, are drawn from reels 11. The prior art process then includes an impregnating step 13 in which the fibers 12 are impregnated with an impregnating material 14, such as resin, to produce impregnated fibers 15. The prior art process then includes a preorienting step 16 where the impregnated fibers 15 are pre-oriented in a preforming mold 17 where the impregnated fibers 15. The prior art process then includes and extrusion step 18 where the impregnated fibers 15 are formed and cured with the aid of a heated extrusion die 19. The heated extrusion die 19 shown in FIG. 1, has a first zone, in which a temperature T1 prevails, and a second zone, in which a temperature T2 prevails. The impregnated and pre-oriented fibers are formed finally in the first zone, in which the temperature T1 prevails and are cured in the second zone, in which the temperature T2 prevails. The prior art process then includes a pulling step 20 in which the profiled part 21 that emerges from the heated extrusion die 19 is pulled with the aid of a pulling device 22 through the processing stations of the method steps 10, 13, 16 and 18. The prior art process ends with a cutting step 24 in which the profiled part 21 is fed to a cutting tool 23 to detach segments 25 from the extruded profile 21 by cutting.
The extrusion die 19 that finally forms and cures the pre-formed fibers has at least an outer mold that determines an outer contour of a profile to be extruded. The extrusion die 19 also has a core mold if a hollow profile is to be produced by extrusion. The core mold determines an inner contour of the hollow profile to be extruded. Accordingly, the prior art extrusion process is known to produce hollow profiles or hollow components.
Efforts to use extrusion to produce hollow components that are intended to position further subassemblies in the hollow space have presented difficulties.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a novel process for producing components by the extrusion processes.